What Amazon Business is and how it works
After hearing about it multiple times, you are actually wondering what Amazon Business is and how it works: no problem, I'll explain right away.
Amazon Business can be considered a real platform, independent from the "classic" Amazon, the one that everyone uses to buy and sell to other users, dedicated to business purchases and, in particular, to the expenses between the companies themselves. It is, in essence, the so-called trade B2B (Business to Business).
Jeff Bezos' giant has produced Amazon Business because many companies find themselves with the need to stock up on electronic devices, computer materials, stationery items and so on: Amazon Business responds to the need for a marketplace of their own, which allows them to order bulk quantities, track payments e monitor costs, with the same simplicity and optimized user experience that has made Amazon famous around the world.
Ultimately, Amazon Business works very intuitively - it's for you if you have one small or medium-sized business, as well as one big company or a startup, or even if you work in sectors such as those ofeducation or of Health. You will be able to register for the service and access a large catalog, consisting of over 250 million products, which can be purchased in large quantities and at wholesale prices, therefore very advantageous.
In addition to enjoying discounts e flexible payment methods (with a company credit card or direct debit), you can automatically download invoices and take advantage of useful tools to keep them under control business expenses and make ends meet. Find more info here.
Among the services paid of the marketplace dedicated to companies, there is also Amazon Business Prime: its cost varies according to the number of users who wish to use it and includes shipment and delivery of the goods within one working day, delivery of special items at no additional cost, early access to some offers e visible expenses. Find more info here.
That said, if you have not yet joined Amazon Business, but have made purchases for your company on Amazon, you may find it useful to read my guide on how to receive an invoice from Amazon.
To learn more about Amazon's services for those interested in selling on its pages, read my guides on how to sell on Amazon and how to do dropshipping on Amazon.
Amazon Business costs and service rules
The matter is getting interesting and, at this point, you would like to know costs and rules of the Amazon Business service so how to choose the most suitable plan to your needs, right? Then here is everything explained to you.
I'll start by giving you good news: basic Amazon Business membership, if you're an entrepreneur or a company, is free. Additionally, you will have the option to create a multi-user account, within which to add employees who have a normal profile on Amazon, so as to be able to implement proxies for the purchase of company material.
In case, instead, you want to add the service Amazon Business Prime, you will need to adhere to a plan paid, to be chosen from those available.
For example, you will find the plan Duo, manageable by a user, which includes fast deliveries for companies and at no additional cost, the possibility of receiving scheduled deliveries and progressive discounts, at a cost of € 25 per year excluding VAT. Following is the plan Basic that, in addition to the benefits of the plan Duo, can also be managed by 3 users and offers the possibility to analyze the company's spending patterns on the platform using 3 Readers (roles assigned to employees who can view and filter spending data, in order to make increasingly prudent purchasing decisions), as well as to draw up guidelines on recommended and not recommended products to purchase (Amazon Guided Buying), at the price of € 36 per year excluding VAT. But it doesn't stop there: there is also the plan Small, usable up to 10 users, able to allow the company that activates it to add the role of Author for the analysis of spending models (an active figure, who will be able to build dashboards using the metrics obtained from expenses and revenues, useful for the whole team to make ends meet), at the cost of € 100 per year excluding VAT. Plan Mediuminstead, it includes the benefits of all the other plans and, in addition, the possibility of being managed by 100 users and adding up to 100 readers to analyze expenses, at the price of € 250 per year excluding VAT. Finally you will find the plan Unlimited, manageable by an unlimited number of users, which, in addition to all the benefits of the plan Medium, allows you to have up to 2 active readers for the study of expenses and the right to block purchases not recommended by the business plan, at the cost of € 2000 per year excluding VAT. I remind you that, before switching to the paid version of the Amazon Business Prime service, you will be able to take advantage of a free trial period, whichever plan is chosen. Find more info here.
So far we have talked about companies that have to purchase materials for their work, but Amazon Business offers the possibility of registering for the service even at this B2B who sell products and go directly to companies. To do this, in addition to accessing the appropriate area, you must first have created yours shop on Amazon. If you don't have it yet and want to know how to get a Seller Profile, read my guide on how to open a shop on Amazon.
Using Amazon Business, after configuring your account on the platform, will allow you to analyze purchases, thanks to the function Visibility on expenses, useful for managing your purchasing budget. Furthermore, if the business profile is administered by several people within the company, you can direct them to certain products to buy, rather than others, always in the logic of hitting your budget objectives: this function is called Amazon Guided Buying.
Regarding payment methods, Amazon Business allows theSEPA direct debit on checking account and accepts all credit and debit cards such as Visa, MasterCard e American Express. In this regard, read my guide on how to get paid online.
Methods and additions are also envisaged for the secure purchasing management e discounts on orders of large quantities of items.
Amazon Business facilitates the company that uses its services all the obligations relating to billing, also accepting, as is mandatory, also the electronic invoicing. Finally, I remind you that the products within Amazon Business report i prices excluding VAT. To learn more about e-invoicing, read my guide on the subject.
Amazon Business Membership
You have made up your mind and want to take advantage of Amazon's services for companies: here, then, is how to carry out thesubscription to Amazon Business.
First of all, if you have a canonical Amazon profile and want to turn it into an Amazon Business account, know that it is possible to do so, just as it is possible to use an Amazon store type account to sell to other companies, within the marketplace.
That said, use the PC to connect to the official website of Amazon Business city and click on the button Create a free account located at the top right. On the next page, press the button Create a new account or that one Convert your account, according to your specific case.
On the next screen, enter yours company email address in the appropriate field, or use the your Amazon account credentials to access and proceed with the conversion. Please note:: do not provide a generic e-mail address, in fact the one of the company you head or work for will also be used by the system to carry out the check and authentication of the new account, a process that could take up to 3 days to complete.
At the next step, enter the other required data, such as the company name and VAT number, then press the button Send. The game is done!
To use the Amazon Business service features from smartphones and tablets you just need to download the app Amazon Shopping available for devices Android (from the Google Play Store or from an alternative store if you don't have the services Google) and for devices iOS / iPadOS (from the App Store), start it and log in with your credentials
By touching the icon menu a tab will open in which you will have to tap on the item My Account, then, in the next menu, choose the wording Sign up for Amazon Business and follow the instructions I gave you at the beginning of this chapter.
Benefits of Amazon Business
If you had read this far, you may have already got an idea of the benefits and concessions of the service, however I would like to offer you a summary of the benefits of Amazon Business.
To begin with, by joining Amazon Business to make business purchases, you will have access to a vast range of products, from office items, to IT products, up to professional beauty products, the necessary for the management of spaces in common areas, for cleaning, safety at work and many other specialized and professional supplies. Among other things, access to Amazon Business is also allowed to institutional structures, as schools e university, the health facilities, such as hospitals, clinics, dental centers and doctors in general, nursing and retirement homes, which will be able to quickly receive everything they need.
On the other hand, it can also be advantageous for those who want to sell through Amazon Business having medium and large-caliber interlocutors, such as those just mentioned.
It must also be said that the service membership plans have affordable costs for companies and allow them to take advantage of very useful services, from fast delivery di Amazon Business Prime, To facilitated billing as well as the possibility of having more people manage orders within the company.
Certainly, among the best integration opportunities to the service, there are the tools that allow you to obtain data from purchases and draw up a list of products that are really needed by the company. This will allow you to always keep the spending budget under control.
Among the less brilliant aspects of the service, keep in mind that you will be bound to the Amazon logistics, regarding packaging, shipping, returns, customer support: in that regard, read my guide on how Amazon FBA works.
Furthermore, not all product categories are subject to discounts and, sometimes, you may have customers who require estimates, which you will be required to respond to. In any case: it is, however, only a few details among many facilitations.
How Amazon Business Works
